Untitled Flashcard Set

📘 PSYC 1010 – Exam Study Guide (Chapters 1–3)

🔹 Chapter 1 – Foundations of Psychology

Definition of Psychology

• Scientific study of thought, mind and behavior and how they are influenced by biological, psychological, environmental and social factors  

• Goals:
  
  

  • Study brain structure and function.
    
    

  • Examine nature vs. nurture (genes vs. environment).
    
    

  • Understand how past experiences affect behaviour.
    
    

  • Explore social/cultural influences.
    
    

  • Apply findings to real-world issues.
    
    

Hypotheses & Theories 

Hypothesis:

• A specific, testable prediction about the relationship between variables.
  
  

• Must be falsifiable — there must be an observation or possible result that would prove it false.
  
  

• Often written as a directional statement (e.g., “Regular aerobic exercise for 30 minutes, 4×/week, will improve short-term memory in adults aged 60–75 compared with no structured exercise.”).
  
  

• How to make it good: include the IV, DV, and an operational definition (e.g., exercise = 30-min treadmill; memory = score on X memory test).
  
  

• Null hypothesis (H₀): assumes no effect (used in stats testing).
  
  

Theory: A broad, well-supported explanation that integrates many findings and generates new hypotheses.

• Explains why things happen and organizes lots of data (e.g., Darwin’s theory of natural selection, Hebb’s theory of synaptic change).
  
  

• Theories are not “proven” — they are supported by evidence and can be refined or replaced as new data appear.
  
  

Key differences:

• Hypothesis = specific prediction you can test.
  
  

• Theory = overarching explanation that ties together many tested hypotheses.
  
  

Falsifiability — why it matters:

• Science requires claims that could conceivably be shown false; otherwise the claim can’t be tested (and is pseudoscience).
  
  

• Example: Falsifiable: “Chimpanzees cannot pass a mirror self-recognition test.” Not falsifiable: “There exists human-like life somewhere in the galaxy” (requires exhaustive search).
  
  

Why we say “supported” (not “proven”):

• Empirical tests reduce uncertainty but never guarantee absolute truth for all time/contexts.
  
  

• New data may contradict previous findings; science is provisionally certain, not absolutely certain.
  
  

Tiny study tips (for fast recall):

• Remember: H = hypothesis = HYPER-specific; T = theory = TOTAL-explainer.
  
  

• Write one example hypothesis and link it to the theory it comes from when you study (helps show the relationship on exams).

Key Historical Milestones

• Ancient Egypt: Edwin Smith Papyrus → first written brain reference.
  
  

• Ancient Greece: Four Humours theory (blood, phlegm, black bile, yellow bile).
  
  

• Late 1700s: Franz Mesmer → “animal magnetism,” hypnosis-like treatments.
  
  

• 1850: Gustav Fechner → psychophysics (stimulus vs perception).
  
  

• 1859: Darwin → natural selection.
  
  

• 1861: Paul Broca → Broca’s area (speech production).
  
  

• 1870s–1880s: Wernicke → comprehension area.
  
  

• 1879: Wilhelm Wundt → 1st psychology lab, introspection & reaction times.
  
  

• 1880s: Francis Galton → anthropometrics, twin studies.
  
  

• 1885: Hermann Ebbinghaus → memory & forgetting curve.
  
  

• 1890: William James → Principles of Psychology (functionalism).
  
  

• 1890: James Mark Baldwin → Canadian psychology.
  
  

• 1892: APA founded.
  
  

• 1900: Sigmund Freud → Interpretation of Dreams (psychoanalysis).
  
  

• Early 1900s: Ivan Pavlov → classical conditioning.
  
  

• 1905: Alfred Binet → first intelligence test.
  
  

• 1911: Edward Thorndike → law of effect.
  
  

• 1912: Max Wertheimer → Gestalt psychology.
  
  

• 1913: John B. Watson → behaviourism.
  
  

• 1934: Wilder Penfield → brain mapping, epilepsy surgery.
  
  

• 1936: Kurt Lewin → social psych (B = f(I, E)).
  
  

• 1938: B.F. Skinner → Behavior of Organisms (operant conditioning).
  
  

• 1939: Canadian Psychological Association founded.
  
  

• 1949: Donald Hebb → The Organization of Behaviour (“cells that fire together wire together”).
  
  

• 1951: Carl Rogers → client-centred therapy.
  
  

• 1952: DSM-I.
  
  

• 1967: Ulrich Neisser → Cognitive Psychology.
  
  

• 1971: Skinner → Beyond Freedom & Dignity.
  
  

• 1978: Herbert Simon → Nobel Prize in cognitive psychology.
  
  

• 1980s–1990s: fMRI, PET imaging mainstream.
  
  

• 1990: Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour & Cognitive Science founded.
  
  

• 1990s: Neuroscience boom.
  
  

• 2003: Human Genome Project completed.
  
  

Approaches

• Functionalism (James): behaviour has adaptive survival functions.
  
  

• Behaviourism (Watson, Skinner): only observable behaviour matters.
  
  

• Cognitive psych (Neisser): mental processes.
  
  

• Humanistic (Rogers): personal growth.
  
  

• Gestalt (Wertheimer): whole > sum of parts.
  
  

• Psychoanalysis (Freud): unconscious drives.
  
  

🟣 Emerging Themes in Psychology (WINNER)

👩 Women in Psychology

• Mary Whiton Calkins → first female president of APA (denied Harvard PhD).
  
  

• Margaret Floy Washburn → first woman to earn a PhD in psychology (1901).
  
  

• Mamie Phipps Clark → research on race & self-esteem (influenced Brown v. Board).
  
  

• Sandra Bem → gender roles & sexism in psychology (1980s).
  
  

• Shelly Taylor → found women often respond to stress with “tend and befriend” instead of fight-or-flight.
  🔑 Contribution: Brought awareness to gender bias and women’s unique experiences in psychology.
  
  

🪶 Indigenous Psychology (Canada)

• Diversity: First Nations, Métis, Inuit, over 1.67 million people (≈5% of population).
  
  

• History: Colonization, land loss, residential schools (1860s–1990s) → trauma passed across generations.
  
  

• Truth & Reconciliation Commission (2007–2015) → calls to action: integrate Indigenous knowledge, respect protocols, promote intercultural understanding.
  
  

• Practice: Combining Indigenous healing (e.g., community, spiritual practices) with Western therapy can improve outcomes.
  🔑 Contribution: Recognizes cultural traditions and historical trauma in treatment.
  
  

🌍 Cultures

• Cross-cultural psychology → compares behaviour and values across cultures.
  
  

• Western (individualistic) vs Eastern (collectivistic) societies show differences in memory, decision-making, and self-concept.
  
  

• Immigrant studies: first- vs second-generation differences; adapting to multiple cultural influences.
  🔑 Contribution: Shows how environment, family, and culture shape mind & behaviour.
  
  

🧠 Neuroimaging

• fMRI (1990s) → allowed study of whole-brain activity in 3D.
  
  

• Led to cognitive neuroscience (memory, decision-making, emotions) and social neuroscience (racism, relationships, group behaviour).
  
  

• Other methods: EEG, MEG, PET, DTI.
  🔑 Contribution: Made psychology more biological and brain-based.
  
  

🏫 Psychology in the Real World

• Law → eyewitness testimony, child interviews, psychopathy research.
  
  

• Education → anti-bullying policies, teaching methods.
  
  

• Workplace (I/O psychology) → fairness, motivation, teamwork.
  
  

• Tech (human factors psychology) → making devices intuitive and safe.
  
  

• Environment → promoting sustainable behaviour, attitudes toward climate change.
  
  

• Digital behaviour → social media, online interactions, mental health impacts.
  🔑 Contribution: Psychology applies everywhere — not just labs, but everyday life.
  
  

Philosophical foundations

• Empiricism: Knowledge comes from sensory experience and careful observation; science requires observable, replicable evidence.
  
  

• Determinism: Events (including behaviour) have physical causes — science looks for causes, not miracles.
  
  

• Materialism: Mental processes arise from physical brain processes (mind = brain activity)

👩‍🔬 Women in Psychology

Early barriers

• For much of psychology’s early history (1800s–early 1900s), women were excluded from universities, professional societies, and publications.
  
  

• They often contributed through mentorships, “hidden” roles, or outside official institutions.
  
  

Key figures

• Mary Whiton Calkins (1863–1930):
  
  

  • First female APA president (1905).
    
    

  • Completed PhD work under William James & Hugo Münsterberg, but Harvard refused to grant her a degree.
    
    

  • Developed paired-associate learning technique in memory research.
    
    

• Margaret Floy Washburn (1871–1939):
  
  

  • First woman to officially receive a PhD in psychology (1894, Cornell).
    
    

  • APA president (1921).
    
    

  • Researched animal behaviour & motor theory.
    
    

• Karen Horney (1885–1952):
  
  

  • Critiqued Freud’s psychoanalysis as male-biased.
    
    

  • Advanced theories on neurosis, self, and gender.
    
    

• Mamie Phipps Clark (1917–1983):
  
  

  • Research on self-concept in African American children.
    
    

  • With Kenneth Clark, developed the famous “doll studies” → cited in Brown v. Board of Education (1954).
    
    

Modern emphasis

• Gender bias in early research is now recognized.
  
  

• Women are a majority in psychology programs today (especially in North America).
  
  

• Psychology increasingly emphasizes intersectionality — understanding how gender, race, culture, and social context shape behaviour.

Rise of Behaviourism (Chapter 1)

• Twitmyer (1902) → Discovered classical conditioning with knee-jerk + bell (but ignored).
  
  

• Pavlov (early 1900s) → Dogs salivate at bell (classical conditioning).
  
  

• Watson (1913) → Founded Behaviourism:
  
  

  • Only study observable behaviour (not thoughts).
    
    

  • Claimed environment shapes all behaviour (“Give me a dozen infants…”).
    
    

  • Later applied to advertising → emotional associations with products.
    
    

• Thorndike (1911) → Law of Effect: behaviour repeated if followed by reward.
  
  

• Skinner (1938) → Operant conditioning: reinforcement & punishment control behaviour.
  
  

  • Used animals (rats, pigeons) in “Skinner boxes.”
    
    

  • Radical behaviourism = applies to humans & animals alike.
    
    

Key Idea: Behaviourism = psychology should be a science of observable actions, shaped by environment, conditioning, and reinforcement.